Coming Back
by bookslover93
Summary: Felicity hasn't felt the same after she saw Oliver and Sara getting back together. What happens when Sara sees something she wasn't expecting after Tockman shoots Felicity? How will Felicity react? What is really going on with their IT girl? An Olicity story. Rated M just to be careful.
1. Chapter 1

**Coming Back**

**Summary:** Felicity hasn't felt the same after she saw Oliver and Sara getting back together. What happens when Sara sees something she wasn't expecting after Tockman shoots Felicity? How will Felicity react? What is really going on with their IT girl? An Olicity story.

**Disclamer:** I own nothing. I just like to play a little bit with the characters ;)

**AN:** So, this is my first fanfiction. While I've been reading for a while and toyed with some ideas, I never wrote anything until now. So any advice and constructive criticism is more than welcome! I'll try to update as regularly as possible. Any questions, feel free to PM me!

**CHAPTER 1**

Felicity POV

Things were different. There was no need to soften the truth. When she told him what she had discovered, about Thea's father, he told her she would not loose him.

He shouldn't have said anything.

Because the truth was, she already had. Honestly, she didn't know why she was still on the Team. Sara could do everything she did and more. And the fact that she could kick ass could not be forgotten.

But, apart from that, her friendship with Oliver had changed. At Queen Consolidated she really had started to feel like she was only Oliver's EA. Hell, he almost only spoke to her about work or Arrow business. The somewhat easy friendship was almost non-existent.

At the lair it was the exact same thing. Only Arrow business was spoken to her. She felt like she was really only the IT girl. And lately she had started to feel like she was not even needed for that.

To be honest, she felt, for the first time, in a very long time, truly alone. It's true she still had Diggle, but he also had his life, he couldn't always be with her.

Lately the loneliness had been overwhelming. Most of the nights, she fell asleep with tear tracks on her face. She couldn't sleep or eat properly. And to add to that, Isabel's not so pleasant jabs about her work at QC had started to affect her. Felicity had started to doubt herself and the thought of quitting her current position of Oliver's Executive Assistant and going back to the IT department has crossed her mind.

The only good thing in her life at the moment was her friendship with Thea and Roy. They were the only ones who know how she really felt. And most importantly, they were the only ones who knew everything about her past. Not even Diggle knew why she came to Starling. Sometime she felt has if the only reason she hadn't lost her sanity was because of those two. They were there whenever she needed, only a call away.

The best thing about their friendship was that there was no need to lie to them about anything, including Arrow business. Roy knew everything due to the Mirakuru in his system, which led to his integration on the Team. Thea wasn't technically on the Team but knew about it ever since she was kidnapped after the Undertaking.

What Thea also knew, was that her biological father was not Robert Queen but Malcom Merlyn. She had been at home when Felicity had confronted Moira about it and didn't like the way her mother had talked to Felicity one bit. At the rally she had seen the blond IT girl talking to her brother, and from his reaction, she could only conclude that Felicity had told him everything despite her mother's threats.

Later that night, Thea had asked Roy to go with her to Felicity's place, after she had told him everything she had seen and heard. He was nothing but supportive.

When they got there, they knocked on the door, rang the bell, and nothing. Starting to get worried, Thea mentally apologized to her friend, and used the key Felicity had given her, a couple of weeks ago, to use in case of an emergency, to open the door. What she saw broke her heart.

Felicity as lying on her couch, sobbing, and she could that had been happening for a while. _'Oh God, what happen to her?'_ Thea asked herself.

"Roy, go get her something to drink please." He nodded with a concerned face. On the way to the kitchen, he stopped by the couch and kissed Felicity's forehead.

"Felicity, sweetheart, what happened? Is everything alright? Does this have anything to do with what you told my brother earlier? At my mother's rally?" With this last question, Felicity quieted almost instantly and her eyes opened, looking fearful.

"I…I have no idea what you're talking about." She said with a small voice, not looking at Thea's face. Looking at Felicity, Thea couldn't help but being angry with his brother. How could he ask Felicity to lie for him, with something like this?

"Fee, honey, look at me." Felicity raised her head to look at Thea, and her heart broke when she saw Felicity's scared face. She could imagine what she was thinking, she was afraid of losing Thea's friendship. And with her past, her fear was almost crippling. "I know. I know everything. I know that my biological father isn't Robert Queen but Malcom Merlyn."

Felicity stared at Thea with an incredulous face.

"You…You know? But…H…How?" She questioned, completely taken by surprise.

"I was there when you confronted my mother. I heard everything. And when I say everything, I mean _everything_. I went to my room after you left the house." She replied with a small smile.

Felicity could feel her eyes watering up again. Only this time she didn't cry alone. Thea was there and they leaned on one another. Felicity told her how she found out the truth. They talked about Moira and her veiled threats. And then came the subject she really didn't want to talk about. Oliver.

"Now Fee, tell us the truth. What happened with Oliver?" asked Roy, entering the room with some bottled water for the girls. He had decided to give them some alone time, feeling that they needed it.

Thea and Roy looked at Felicity with expecting but supportive eyes.

Felicity took a deep breath and started to talk.

"He noticed that I was not myself during the day, so he corned me to talk about what was bothering me. I didn't know how to start, so, hum, I kind of told him about my father, how he abandoned us, me and my mother" she said with a small voice, and Thea took her hand. "he then asked if there was a problem with my family and I said no, that it was a problem related to his. And the I told him…God, you should have seen his face. He looked so…broken." She said closing her eyes. "After the rally he came to talk to me about you, Thea. He said that for your protection it would be better if you didn't know. And God, he convinced me to agree with him. After that he left." She finished with a small voice, her voice breaking a little in the word _left_.

Roy and Thea looked at one another and then at Felicity. They could see she was hiding something from them, something she didn't want to tell them. So, Thea decided to try to make her talk about it.

"But that's not all, isn't it Felicity? There's something else." She asked, trying to get Felicity to open up.

With this question, Felicity's eyes got even sadder, and there was something about her posture that screamed defeat, that screamed she had given up on something. When she started to speak, it was with a voice so small, Thea and Roy almost couldn't hear her.

"A few hours ago I decided to go to the Foundry to talk to Oliver, to see if there was something I could do to help him. I should have known better. God, when will I learn that I mean nothing more to him? That I'm just his EA and IT girl?" She asked with a bitter laugh. This scared Thea and Roy. They had only heard her talk like that when referring to one situation located in her past. Never was it related to Oliver. Thea was almost afraid to ask what her brother had done.

"What did he do?" she asked. Felicity looked at the wall, she couldn't look at them while speaking. She didn't know if she could stand tem seeing the hurt and heartbreak in her eyes.

"I saw them as soon as I arrived. Sara and Oliver, on the mats. They didn't even notice I was there, they just continued. God, couldn't they have done it at another place? Did it have to be my sanctuary?" She cried. Thea couldn't help but hug her, while Roy rubbed her back in comforting circles.

Thea and Roy looked at each other incredulously. Oliver had done what? In the Foundry of all places! How could he have done this to Felicity? She wore her heart on her sleeve, everyone could see how much she cared for him.

Thea couldn't believe what her brother had done, but at the moment she ignored her own reactions to the news and focused on her best friend. She had to be there for her. _Thank God it's Friday. She'll have the weekend to deal with this. I'll make sure she won't have to set a foot on the Foundry until Monday._ Thea though. She looked at Roy and saw the same look she was sure she had in her own eyes. They had a friend to support, and they weren't going anywhere.

**AN:** So, what did you guys think? Any advice? I'll star to talk about Felicity's past in the next 2 or 3 chapters at most. Feel free to review ;)

**P.S.** Any spelling mistakes, I apologize, English is not my first language.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** Thank you so much for all of your support! Honestly, I wasn't expecting this response … As I said previously, I'll try to update as regularly as possible… I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything. Arrow and its characters belong to CW and it's rightful owner.

**CHAPTER 2**

That weekend, just as Thea promised, was spent with the three of them watching movies and catching up on old gossip. Both Thea and Roy made the effort not to mention in any of their conversations. They both felt that Felicity needed the time to rest and just relax for once. Little did they know about the promise she had made herself.

Once she had let a man take control of her life and he turned it into a living hell. While Oliver didn't hurt her on purpose, his actions had broken her heart more than once, and she was tired, so goddamn tired of feeling like she was never going to enough. So, she decided she was not going to live her life as if its main purpose was to please Oliver or anyone else. She was going to star living her life for herself- thinking about herself first, she mattered to.

For now she was going to steer clear of any attempted relationships, she was going to focus on her work not only at QC and the Foundry but also the software she designs. It was time to start doing things for herself.

As weeks went by, she never imagined that her new resolutions would be supported by Oliver's new behavior. He barely talked to her anymore, only speaking to her when it was related to QC or to Arrow business.

Even though she had decided to start thinking about herself more, the way he had been behaving towards her hurt. And what pissed her off the most, was that it was starting to show on her health. She couldn't sleep, couldn't eat properly, and psychologically, she just was starting to feel like Joshua made her feel, and that just got her mad.

Thea and Roy did what they could, but there was so much they could do for her. They remembered what she told them about Joshua, how she was, how he made her feel. They could now see in first person what she was talking about and they were not happy to see what Oliver's actions, or lack of, were doing to their friend. They felt like they didn't know how to help her, and they did not have the contact of the people who did help her in the past.

Felicity was thankful for everything those two did for her whenever they could, but there was no way they could be there for her at night. At that was the worst part of her day because that's when the nightmares would attack.

_God, wasn't it enough for me to live through those things? Now I have to start reliving them again? Especially now, when I was starting to get better?_ She thought to herself one night, after waking up from an especially bad nightmare.

Getting up she went to the kitchen and got a bottle of red wine. _There was nothing a glass of wine can't cure. Sláinte!_ She tough with sarcasm.

She looked at the clock, three freaking a.m.… The time her nightmares usually struck. Felicity knew there was no way she would be able to go back to sleep knowing what was waiting for her so, she got a couple of snack, her already opened bottle of wine and decided to have a marathon of Doctor Who.

She managed to finish the red wine, falling asleep not long after. Felicity slept through her alarm and only woke up when she heard loud banging on her door and someone screaming her name.

"Felicity, open up!"

Getting up was more difficult than she cared to admit, after all, falling asleep on her small couch was never a smart thing to do, considering the damn thing would kill her back.

She opened her door with a huge yawn only to find that Diggle was about to knock again with a worried expression. When he saw her he gave a relieved sigh. But that rapidly gave way to a concerned face once he saw her face.

"Hey you ok? Is everything alright?" He asked putting his hands on her shoulders?

"Yeah… Just had a rough night."

Diggle looked at her with a look that translated to _"please elaborate that"_.

Inviting him in, she sat down on her couch and waited for him to join her on the couch. When he closed the door and sat with her on her couch, Felicity let a long sigh out and rubbed her eyes, trying to chase the sleep away. She didn't want to tell Digg everything, not yet anyway.

"I didn't sleep well. Nightmares… This time of the year is not particularly easy for me Digg."

If he was worried before, it was nothing compared with what he felt at the moment. He had never seen Felicity look like that, so… _Dejected_.

"You know you can tell me anything right? You know I'm here for you."

"I know Digg. It's… It's just not the right time you know? Just give a few days… I already had decided I was going to talk to you anyway… Thea and Roy said you should know everything." She finished with a small voice. With this Diggle got up and kneeled in front of Felicity.

"What is this about? Does it have anything to do with how you have been feeling?" She looked at him with a confused face. "I'm not blind you know? I can see something is wrong with you… You don't look particularly healthy, and, most importantly, you don't ramble as much." He finished with a small chuckle. Then he got a serious face. "Now seriously, what is going on Felicity? What do you want to talk about?"

She sighed and leaned back onto the couch. She really didn't want to worry him, he was like a big brother to her.

"I can't talk about everything right now Digg, please understand that. It's not the right time, it feels like it's still to fresh… What I can tell you is that it's about the real reason I came to Starling City in the first place."

"What? I thought you came here to work at Queen Consolidated?" He asked confused.

"That's the official story, but not the real reason." She responded with a tired voice. "But please, please, don't ask me anything else right now. I'll tell you all about it later ok?" She begged.

"Alright. As long as you promise me to call me if you need anything!" Diggle demanded.

"Ok."

"And when I say anything, I mean it! No matter what time it is. Are we understood?"

"Sir, yes, Sir" She replied with a small smile. "Now, I really am happy to see you Digg, but, what are you doing here?" She asked with an adorable confused look. Diggle laughed at that.

"Have you already forgotten? Yesterday we agreed to go get lunch with Thea and Roy? Remember? At the new Italian place that just opened?" She looked at him with her mouth hanging open. _How could I have forgotten?_

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! Let me just go get dressed. Are we very late?"

"No, I arrived a little bit early; I really wanted to talk to you. To see if you were alright."

"Ohh… You are a very sweet man John Diggle." Felicity said with a big smile, watching Diggle blush a little. "I'll be ready in twenty minutes."

With this she gave him a kiss in his cheek while on her way to her room.

True to her word, Felicity was ready in about twenty minutes. After leaving her apartment they swung by Roy's place to pick up Thea and Roy. When they looked at Felicity they both realized she did not have a good night of sleep.

Thea looked at Felicity with a serious look on her eyes as if asking _are you alright?_ To which Felicity responded with one of her own saying _Yes Thea, I'm fine._

Diggle watched this interaction between Thea and Felicity through the mirror and his previous concerns came back with a vengeance. _What is so bad about her past that has her reacting like this? In such a way that can really damage her health? And how does Thea, and Roy, know about it? _He hadn't missed the look between the couple when they had looked at Felicity. She was wearing making make-up, but there was so much it could do. There was no way someone could miss Felicity's exhausted look.

Diggle was in no way jealous of her relationship with Oliver's younger sister. As a matter of fact he was grateful for it. He knew Felicity didn't have many friends and he felt better knowing she had someone she could count on if there was something he couldn't help her with.

Looking at Felicity he had the feeling that whatever was going on with her was only get worse before it got better. And that thought really had him worried. He didn't want to see the young woman he had started to think of as his surrogate little sister getting hurt.

However, he admitted to be curious, and concerned, as to why Felicity really came to Starling, and the way she had been acting had started to worry him seriously. But he could wait a couple days, Felicity herself had said she was going to talk to him. She just needed a couple days to regroup.

_But enough of this for now. This is a time for us to relax and have a little fun before something else bad happens. _Diggle thought.

The lunch went well, and the group had fun, catching up with each other. Thea, Roy and Diggle had the mission to make Felicity smile and laugh, even if it was only for a little bit. And they managed to do just that.

_I really needed this._ Felicity thought with a smile. _I'm sure things will start to get better from now on._

Boy, she couldn't have been more wrong.

**AN:** So, what do you think? Did you like it? Sorry for taking so long, college has really been full of work... I will try to update again this week

On another page, I was thinking about doing some one-shots, so if you have any ideas, please tell me!

Feel free to review ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** So, here's chapter three. I have never expected this story to be so well received, so thanks everyone! It really leaves me happy and gives me more inspiration and will to continue writing :)

On that note, I was thinking about starting some one-shots, so if you have any idea that you would like to see on 'paper' tell me about it!

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, Arrow belongs to its rightful creator, I just like to play a little bit with the characters.

**CHAPTER 3**

As days went by Felicity started to return to her old self, which had Roy, Thea and Diggle pretty relieved, they wanted their friend back. Slowly she started to hang out with her friends more times, got healthy, and, at the same time, started to get madder at Oliver.

_Didn't he notice she had not been well? _She asked herself bitterly.

Unknown to her that was exactly the same thing her friends had been thinking. Diggle had lost count to the times he had to stop himself and Roy to kick Oliver's ass. He just didn't understand how the man could be so blind. Sure he was busy with QC and Arrow business but Felicity was his friend and partner.

As Felicity started to get better she started to think about the promise she had made Diggle, to tell him everything when she was feeling better. She felt that the time had finally arrived, she just didn't know how to approach the subject.

They were in the Foundry when she decided to breach the subject. Diggle had stopped by her house to pick her up, so it would not be suspicious of her to ask for a ride.

"Hey Diggle, could you give me a ride home?" She asked him.

"Sure, no problem. Do you mind if we stopped by Belly Burger first?"

"Of course not. I'm hungry anyway." He replied with a smile. "Let's go. Good night everyone."

Oliver and Sara replied with a mumbled goodbye, barely noticing Felicity speaking. Diggle noticed this and didn't even say anything to them, he just got up and left with Felicity.

When they were in the car, she started nervously.

"Do you mind asking to take out? We could eat in my place and talk a bit… If you don't mind of course. Maybe you do. Maybe you have plans, do don't have to eat in my place, you could eat in yours. Or you could eat at Belly Burger. I mean, if you don't mind to have dinner with me, not with me as in date, as your friend… Because we're friends, and you're with Lyla… And I like Lyla, we're friends… Oh God… I'm shutting up now, in 3…2…1." She looked out of the window watching the cars go by mortified.

She didn't notice Diggle just smiling a bit. _And she's back. _He thought.

"It's been a while." She looked at him confused. "Since you've rambled. I missed it." She gave him a shy smile. "And I don't mind if we eat at your place. Then we can talk." He understood the invitation to talk. She was finally ready to open up, to talk about her life before Starling

They continued the trip to Big Belly in silence and after getting their order they continued to Felicity's place. In a mutual decision, though not vocal, they talked about easy things while having dinner, no heavy talk. After eating and cleaning up, Felicity went to her wine cabinet and selected a red merlot while Diggle got the glasses from the kitchen.

_We are going to need the wine._ Felicity thought as she poured it, telling Diggle to make himself comfortable. It was not going to be an easy conversation.

Felicity was in silence, thinking how to start such a difficult conversation. Diggle didn't push her, he just let her think. He did not want to force her, it was better if she told things at her own pace. He imagined it was going to be difficult as it was. From the little she had told her, he imagine it was not going to be pretty.

When she finally started, it was in a small voice, and what she told him confirmed his thoughts, rocking his world at the same time.

"A couple years ago, last month, my ex-boyfriend tried to kill me."

With this Diggle almost spit his wine, looking at her completely shocked.

"What?!"

She gave him a small smile. "Let me start from the beginning."

"You might notice that I talk a lot. But you might have noticed that I don't talk about me family. When I was seven my father abandoned me and my mother, he just left one days with his bags and he never came back." Hearing this Diggle gently took her hand. "My mother was never the same after that, she was never motherly, but after he left she just…changed. She turned my life a living hell. She wasn't physically violent, but we both know that sometimes that isn't the worse. Instead of physical hits, she excelled at emotional and psychological ones. I won't go into details, you must imagine how it was." She made a pause, finishing her glass of wine. Diggle silently poured her some more. "Until I was about fourteen she at least gave me money for food and clothes, I only spent it one the essential, trying to save most of it. After that she told me she would not give me any more, that I had to fend for myself. And that's what I did. I discovered my talents with computers young, so I started to do some odd jobs, fixing computers and stuff like that. Things at home got progressively worse with my mother, and I tried to stay away as much as possible. When I was sixteen I got some part time jobs, took up babysitting and started studying at the library, just so that I didn't need to go home. I didn't have much friends in school, just some people I knew, I had all my energies focused on just getting the hell out of that house. And then my wish came through: full scholarship at MIT. When the time to go came, I packed my things and never looked back. I never returned."

She made a brief pause, drinking some wine, trying to organize her thoughts.

"On my first day I met my best friend Caitlin Barton, she was my roommate during the time I was at MIT, and we just clicked. She and her family, as well as her boyfriend Jack, who is now her husband, kind of adopted me when she figured out I had no else, that I was alone. They treated me like family." She said with a small smile. "Everything was as close to perfect for a couple of years, I always spend the vacations with Caitlin and her family, she always dragged me along. And then I met Joshua."

Diggle heard the change in her voice when she said this Joshua's name. He could guess that things were about to get ugly.

"I never dated in high school so when he started to pursue me I really didn't know what to do or to say. When it came to guys I was really shy, Caitlin did the best she could but there's so much she could actually do, she even tried to set me up with a couple of Jack's friends, to no avail. Eventually Joshua and I started dating. For a couple of months things went great, he gave me the attention I never had and then things started to gradually change. It was small things at the beginning, the way I wore my hair, which was light brown at the time, the kind of clothes I wore. He was so subtle that I didn't notice a thing. Then the commentaries came, things that my mother used to say to me. He always knew how and when to say things. So at the start it was only emotional and psychological abuse. It was what I was mostly used to, what I knew since my childhood, what Caitlin and her family showed me was the anomaly."

She took a break. The worst was to come, and she didn't know how to put it to words.

Diggle got gradually tense as he listened to Felicity's story. To think the young woman he thought of as a sister had gone through so much wanted to make him punch something, or someone. The way she was starting to talk about her relationship to this Joshua he could tell worse things were yet to come. He closed his eyes and prayed for calm.

Felicity took a deep breath and resumed her story.

"The first time he hit me I can't say I was really surprised, for the last days he had been escalating, I might not have had contact with physical abuse, but I was more than familiar with the emotional and physical one. After I just stood there looking at him, I didn't even fight back he had me so controlled." She said leaning back on the couch. "After that things got so much worse. He controlled every aspect of my life, didn't let me make any decisions. He gave me beatings whenever he wanted for whatever faults he deemed I had committed. Everything around the house could become an object of torture. He favored belts and cigarettes. What happened in the bedroom wasn't exactly consensual. And that is something I really can't elaborate on." She said in a small voice filled with pain. "I lost count to the number of times I ended up on the hospital, how many bones he broke. Whenever people asked me what happened I gave the same answers, _I fell down, went against a door_. I have scars Diggle, really bad ones." The last sentence was said in a voice so small Diggle almost didn't hear it. He was feeling so nauseated. _How could someone hurt Felicity? She is such a good person._ He thought with tears in his eyes.

"I did the best I could to hide what was happening but somehow Caitlin found out. I never asked her how. With her help and her family's, which included Jack who had just become a detective for the police, I managed to get out. We got out of the dorm and moved to her parent's house, they wouldn't let us stay there, they wanted us someplace where I could be safe. Things were slowly starting to get better, I was starting to get better. It was a week till graduation when Joshua found out where I was. One day while Caitlin's father was working Caitlin and her mother had to leave the house to go shopping, and that's when he attacked. I didn't notice I was no longer alone until it was too late. He raped me, and God, I can still remember how much it _freaking hurt_. He then got a knife from the kitchen and he stabbed me twice before Jack got inside. It was the middle of the afternoon, and he always stopped by to see how I was. If he hadn't been doing that, I'd probably be dead. Jack shot Joshua in the shoulder before he could stab me again. He called an ambulance for me and then he called Caitlin. I passed out after that. I only remember waking up in the hospital a week later. I later found out that I crashed for about forty seconds while on surgery."

She took a deep breath, and took another sip of her glass of wine, not noticing that she has tears falling down her face for the last ten minutes.

"Jack made sure that Joshua went to jail and had to serve time. During the time I spent recovering Caitlin and her family where there for me, they never left me alone. I love them dearly, they are the family I never had. They made sure I got my diploma, and I never felt prouder than the moment Cat's father gave it to me. By the time I got better I had several companies offering me a place of employment. After much debate and talking with Cat and her family I decided to take the offer of Queen Consolidated and come to Starling. They understood that I needed a place without bad memories, where I could be whoever I wanted to be. I still talk with Caitlin and Jack almost every day, and the same with her parents, Helena and Anthony." She took a deep breath and looked at Diggle, who had tears in his eyes and looked ready to kill someone. "So this is it. This is the reason I came to Starling. Apart from the Barton's, you, Thea and Roy know about this. I suspect that Detective Lance might know as well, since I'm positive he ran my background when he found out I work with the Arrow, but he never mentioned anything."

Diggle looked at her, took both of the glasses putting them on the table and hugged Felicity as hard as he could. And that's when she broke down. She cried for everything. For her childhood she never had and for the one that she did have. For the family and abandoned her and for the one that she won when she met Caitlin. She cried for the scared young woman she was when she was with Joshua and all the pain he put her through. She just let it all out for the first time since telling Thea and Roy about her previous life.

When she finally calmed down Diggle gave her a kiss on the forehead and Felicity could see that he had also shed a few tears.

"I don't know how you can be such a happy person, who believes in others, the good inside them, when you've gone through so much. I want you to know how happy I am to have you in my life and how much I appreciate your friendship. To me you are family Felicity, you are my little sister. And one day, if you feel ready I would love to meet Barton's, to thank them. Because without them I would never have met you and my world would not be so light without you."

Felicity smiled at Diggle, and this time it was a happy one. He didn't know how happy his words made her.

"Thank you so much Diggle. I hope you know that I think of you as my big brother as well. And I would love to introduce you to the Barton's. Maybe Lyla too? Do you think she would like that?" She asked with a small smile.

"I think she would like that. I know that Lyla cares for you like a sister. What do you want to do? Do you want me to tell her? Whatever makes you comfortable Felicity."

She looked seriously at him, considering all her options, she knew he would not tell Lyla anything if she asked him to, but she didn't mind if she knew. Felicity liked Lyla, she thought of her as a good friend.

"I don't mind if she knows. I know it is difficult but, would you mind being the one to tell her? It is a difficult subject for me to talk about so many times in such a short amount of time. Tell her I wouldn't mind meeting her for coffee next week and I would talk a bit more about it with her?" She asked nervously, her hands twitching.

"Of course I don't mind Felicity. I'll talk to her and then you two will arrange something to talk a bit more. I assume you don't want anyone else knowing about this?" He knew she understood who he meant and when she nodded he promised he wouldn't tell a soul.

After the talk about her past Diggle asked her what had happed between her and Oliver, since he could see that their relationship had changed in a lot of ways. Felicity told him exactly the same thing that she had told Thea, including Thea's parentage, since the two girls had talked about it when she told Thea she was going to tell everything to Diggle.

Diggle's reaction was the same as the young couple. He honestly didn't know what the young man was thinking. Before anything they were friends and lately that was something he was not very good at.

Later, Diggle could see that Felicity was almost falling asleep and he said that he was time to leave since it was already late and they had work the next day. He said that he would pick her up at the usual hour the next day. After, locking the door up Felicity went to bed, happy that she had told Diggle everything about her past and, for the first time in days, she did not have any nightmares.

Diggle's POV

He drove home on auto pilot. He could not believe what that bastard named Joshua had done to Felicity, all he wanted was to break the guys face with his fists, and his reaction to Oliver's reaction to Felicity in the last weeks were not so different.

It was late than usual when he finally got home. After locking up he just leaned against the door and stood there, with tear tracks on his face, until Lyla came to him. When she saw his face she thought automatically of the worst.

"What's wrong John?" she asked in a soft voice. And he broke down. He told her everything Felicity had told him, about her past and what had happened a couple of weeks before. By the time he was done, he was not the only one crying. They were both silent for a while until Lyla started to talk.

"She's no longer alone John, she has us. Whatever she needs she can count on us. We won't let anything of the sort happen to her ever again." She was quiet for a while. "I'll call her tomorrow. Ask if she wants to come to dinner next week. You think she'll like that?" He nodded with a smile and kissed her.

After the long talk they went to bed and both of their last thought's before falling asleep was how remarkable Felicity Smoak was and how glad they were that they had her in their life. They promised themselves to try to make sure that the young woman Diggle considered family was safe. With that thought they fell asleep.

The next days went by naturally, almost normal. Felicity was starting to feel as good as normal and had lunch with Thea, Roy and Diggle. She had also agreed to have dinner with Lyla the following week. The young woman hadn't felt that good in ages.

And then Tockman Happened.

**AN:** So, what do you guys think? Was it good? Please, feel free to review and tell me what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:** So, here's chapter four. I'm glad you like I've written so far. The reviews have been amazing, they really leave me happy and give me more inspiration and will to continue writing :)

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, Arrow belongs to its rightful creator, I just like to play a little bit with the characters.

**CHAPTER 4**

Things had been going well for Felicity the past couple of days, she was finally starting to feel like her old self. And the fact that she had an amazing group of friends that she knew she could count on no matter what also helped. Since she had told Diggle the truth and talked about it with Lyla after, she felt like a weight was off her shoulders, she felt free. And she hadn't felt like that in a while.

She was connecting with people again. People meaning Roy, Diggle, Thea and Lyla. She felt that she could finally be herself again, no judgments. All of this was starting to improve her health, she slept better and ate better.

Unfortunately, things at QC remained pretty much the same. Isabel carried on with her veiled threats and petty remarks, however Felicity didn't give them the importance she would have a couple of weeks before. What continued the same was Oliver. He still remained oblivious to the fact that the IT girl was not well and that pissed her off. _Weren't they friends? Usually friends noticed when the other is behaving abnormally. _And that's when the anger kicked in. And she was going to take advantage of it.

Back when she was living with the Barton's, after breaking up with Joshua, Jack decided to teach the girls, Felicity and Caitlin, how to defend themselves. If they were ever in a situation where they didn't feel safe he wanted them to be able to defend themselves. Ever since she came to Starling Felicity had stopped training, and that was going to change. She was going to take the anger she was currently feeling and was going to turn it into energy, energy which she was going to use in training. The first thing she had to do was talk to Diggle and Roy, and that's what she did one day when it was just the three of them in the Foundry.

"Hey Diggle, Roy, I wanted to ask both of you for a favor." She said biting her lip nervously.

"What's up Fee?" he smirked when he saw her expression.

"Well, I was wondering if you two could teach me how to defend myself. I have some basics but since I haven't practiced in so long I've pretty much forgotten everything."

"When did you learn and who taught you?" Asked Diggle.

"Jack did. He taught me and Caitlin after I broke up with Joshua. And then everything happened and I moved here. I haven't practiced in years, so you'll probably have to teach me everything from the beginning."

"Well, I think it's a good idea." Replied Roy and Diggle agreed with him. "Even more now that you're pissed off. There's nothing like a punching bag to make you feel better when you're mad. Trust me." He smiled. Felicity and Diggle laughed at that. When they heard the door opened they moved to their places as if the conversation had never happened.

During the following days Diggle and Roy would teach Felicity and Lyla even gave her some tips a few times, which she found extremely useful. After all, there were some maneuvers that only a woman could truly explain. These lessons would take place when neither Oliver nor Sara were in the Foundry as Felicity didn't want to give them an explanation.

It was during the next week that banks started to be robbed with the help of a hacker who could timely hack the bank to facilitate the robbers. It was with this villain of the week that things got out of control for Felicity.

One day, while practicing with one another, Diggle, Sara and Oliver started to tell stories about their scars, not wanting to be left out, she told the story about the only scar she had that didn't origin in violence. And then Sara had told her that it was a cute story. Diggle could see the fire that appeared in Felicity's eyes. It wasn't as if she could tell the story of any of the others.

Things only got worse after Tockman managed to out-hack her and basically telling her entire system to commit electronic suicide. And the fact that Sara had practically done her job during the case certainly did not help the matters and managed to raise some of the doubts that had plagued her weeks before. Thank God for Diggle and Roy that were there when she needed them.

After setting the trap for Tockman with Oliver's money as bait, they all decided to attend to each other personal matters until they had the received the alert that Tockman had taken the bait. It wasn't until they got back to the Lair that they noticed that something wasn't right. Felicity was nowhere to be found.

They were talking about the fact that Felicity wasn't in the Foundry when Oliver's phone started ringing. It was her.

"Hey" Oliver said as he answered the phone.

"Tockman took the bait. The money you had Walter deposit. I'm reading his signal at Starling National." Felicity replied.

"Wait. How do you now that?" he asked.

"Because I'm here."

"What?" he growled.

After that it was a rush to get to the bank. In the end it was Felicity that took Tockman down with her tablet after being shot in the shoulder while saving Sara.

When they got to the Foundry Roy already had the medical kit ready to help Felicity. In order to help her deal with the pain Diggle gave her some _"aspirins" _that almost had her knocked out. After that Sara told them that she would stich Felicity up. Hearing this Diggle and Roy looked at each other in alarm. In the Foundry they were the only ones that knew about their IT girl's scars. Quietly getting together they were trying to think up of a way to prevent Sara from being the one to take care of the wound without being suspicious about it. Unknown to them, Oliver was aware of their conversation and reaction and was wondering why they were being so secretive. None of them noticed that Sara had helped Felicity out of her shirt until she screamed.

"What the hell?!"

"Oh God no." exclaimed Diggle.

"How are we gonna explain this one man?" asked Roy.

"What's wrong?" asked Oliver.

"I…I don't know." Sara said in a small voice. "Felicity, what happened? Who did this to you?"

"I don't want to talk about it." She replied. "Can't you fix my shoulder so that I can go home? I'm sleepy. I wanna go to bed. Diggle, can Lyla stay with me tonight?" She asked in a sleepy voice. Seeing what was about to happen Diggle walked to her. Holding her up while Sara finished what she was doing.

"I'm sure she won't mind sweetheart." Smiling at his reply, Felicity finally gave in to the pain medication and fell asleep.

"Sara." Oliver growled "what's wrong?"

"We'll talk later Ollie. All of us." She replied, later being when Felicity was at home, including Diddle and Roy. She hadn't missed the looks between those two.

Sara finally finished and helped Diggle put on a shirt in Felicity that belonged to Oliver. While Sara was buttoning it up, he called Lyla, told her what happed, both at the bank and at the Foundry and asked if she could stay with Felicity for the night. She said she wouldn't mind. They both knew that it was going to be a long night.

While Diggle drove Felicity home not even a sound could be heard at the Foundry. There were only stares. Both Sara and Oliver knew that Diggle and Roy knew more than them, and it bothered Oliver. He wanted to know what was going on. Sara hadn't even told him what she had seen that had originated such a reaction. When Diggle finally arrived, they were a few minutes in silence until Oliver broke it.

"What happened Sara? What did you see?" he asked in an even voice.

She walked for a bit, taking deep breaths, wondering how she was going to tell him.

"It's her back Oliver. It's covered in scars." She said in a small voice. Oliver looked at her as if he didn't understand what she was saying. "I'd say it's from cigarette burn marks and belts. Some of them are worse than mine Ollie." She finished with tears in her eyes.

Suddenly Oliver walked to a table and threw everything that was on it to the floor, not caring if anything was broken. Taking deep breaths and looked to his team mates. Sara's look was one similar to his, surprised and incredulous but what really appalled him was the look on Diggle and Roy's face. They didn't look anything like him and Sara.

"You knew…" he said looking at them. "You knew didn't you?" he screamed.

"Yes" replied Diggle. Roy remained quiet.

"And you didn't tell me?" He inquired incredulously.

"She asked me not to. She'll tell you when and if she's ready." Diggle argued. He could see where this was going.

"I'm her friend! Why wouldn't she tell me?"

Hearing this Roy let a bitter laugh, shaking his head. Everyone directed their eyes to him.

"What?" Oliver demanded.

"Her friend? You say you are her friend? That's bullshit! Where were you when she needed you?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" he said in what Felicity called his Arrow voice.

"Roy" Diggle said low, trying to calm him down.

"Are you so fucking blind that you didn't see how she was a couple of weeks ago? Sick? Barely sleeping and eating. It got to a point that me and Thea were actually worried that she would get herself in the hospital! Are you so goddamn self-absorbed that you didn't see it?!" He growled walking towards Oliver in an angry pace.

"You have barely talked to her unless you needed her to do something whether it was related to QC or Arrow business. It was as if that was all she was needed for! Hell, even Isabel snide remarks started make her doubt herself and her place not only on QC but here as well! Where the fuck were you when she needed you?" Roy screamed. And that was when he punched Oliver, who fell into the floor.

Everyone stopped in shock. Seeing that Roy was not done with Oliver, Sara and Diggle run towards him and pushed him back before he did something that he would regret later. It took a few minutes until Roy finally calmed down. _I'm not sorry._ _He deserved it._ He thought once he was finally himself. Oliver still hadn't moved.

When he finally got up he asked in a small voice, sounding almost like a little boy.

"She was sick?" Everyone looked at him.

"Yeah." Replied Diggle. "I was starting to get really worried. If she hadn't gotten better I would have dragged her to the hospital. Luckily that was not necessary."

"What was wrong with her?" asked Sara.

"I'm sorry, but I can't say. She asked me not to." Diggle said in a firm voice. There was no way he was going to betray Felicity's confidence.

"Why?" Oliver begged.

"She's not ready for you to know. You just have to accept that. She needs time man. You really screwed up these last few weeks. Like Roy said, you have not been exactly been a good friend. To put it simply, you've been a dickhead." Explain Diggle. "What I can tell you is that it's related to her past."

"That's one way to put it Dig. That girl has a past more messed up than these two can imagine." Said Roy.

Hearing this Oliver sighed and sat down in a chair with his head in his hands. _God I messed up. And badly._

"How can I fix this?" asked to no one in particular.

"Honestly Oliver I have no idea. Try being her friend. Right now that's what she needs." Advised Diggle, he honestly had no idea what more Oliver could do. He hadn't seen her during those weeks. Even now that she was better he didn't know if he would ever forget.

All of them were in silence thinking over things. _How had things gotten into that point? Where I don't notice that one of my best friends is sick? _Oliver asked himself. Unfortunately, he had absolutely no ideas.

After a while Sara finally spoke. During most of the confrontation she had stayed quiet, she honestly had no idea of what to say. Not to mention that in her mind she was still seeing Felicity's scars. How someone like her had gone through something like that was truly inconceivable to her.

"Maybe it's best if we go home. It's late, we have work tomorrow. I'm sure after a night of sleep things will get better."

Little did they know that the storm was yet to come, and it was not going to be easy, especially for Felicity.

**AN:** So, what do you guys think? Did it live up to the expectations? Please, feel free to review and tell me what you think!


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:** So, this is chapter five. I'm sorry it took so long to update but I'm starting my exams and it leaves me, unfortunately, with less time to write and update. I hope you enjoy this chapter. If there's something you'd like to see happening feel free to tell me ;)

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, Arrow belongs to its rightful creator, I just like to play a little bit with the characters.

**CHAPTER 5**

Oliver POV

After everything that happened in the Foundry, Oliver decided to take his bike out and try to clear his head. He couldn't wrap his head around what he had discovered that night.

_Scars…_ That was all he could think about. _Sara said her back was covered in scars. Some are worse than hers. _

How could he have made such a mess of things? Roy and Diggle were right. He had been a lousy friend. She had been there when he needed. But when she needed? Where had he been? Engrossed in his own life, only caring about himself, and forgetting about everyone around him. He hadn't been behaving like Oliver, he had been behaving like Ollie. And that was something he only realized after getting punched by Roy.

He really couldn't fault him for that. He had been defending Felicity. But the thought that Roy had been protecting her from him, Oliver, left a bitter taste in his mouth and a hole in his stomach.

_Sick… She had been sick and I didn't even notice… Sick… Diggle thought he would have to take her to the hospital… _He couldn't forget what Diggle and Roy had told him. What he didn't notice. _What friend doesn't notice?_

He didn't know how much time had passed since he had left the Foundry. It could have been minutes or it could have been hours. He hadn't noticed the time flying by as he drove mindlessly around the city.

Suddenly he stopped the bike and he noticed where he was. Honestly, he was not surprised to realize that he had ended up at Felicity's place.

_I just want to know how she is, after all she got shot._ He thought to himself as he climbed the fire escape up to her floor. When he looked through her window, he could see her sleeping peacefully he relaxed for a moment.

Until he felt he end of a gun pointed at his head.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Someone asked in a low and threatening voice.

_Lyla. _Oliver thought, he had forgotten that Felicity has asked Diggle if she would spend the night with her.

"It's me Lyla, Oliver." He answered in a low voice, trying not to awake the sleeping girl.

"Come inside, quietly." She replied in a low and neutral voice. Once Oliver was inside, they went into the living room, leaving the door of Felicity's bedroom only slightly open, so that they could hear her if she needed them. "What are you doing here Oliver?" She asked in a hard tone.

"I just wanted to see how she was, if she was alright." He replied.

"You haven't cared about her for weeks, didn't notice she was sick. And you think you can just come here as if nothing had happened? Tell me, if Sara hadn't seen her scars because Felicity got shot protecting her would you even be here?" She questioned him with a hard stare.

Oliver looked at her with guilty eyes. She had noticed as well. Why didn't he? How could he have been so blind for weeks?

"I just… I don't know. I honestly have no idea what I've been doing, and I sure as hell have no idea how I'm going to fix this."

Lyla sat down in front and clasped her hands. "Do you want to know what I think?" She asked him in a serious voice. Something told Oliver he might not like everything she was going to tell him. However he nodded anyway, He wanted to fix things with Felicity. "I have nothing against her, but I've noticed that all of this started the moment you and Sara got back together." He blinked and looked at her. "I'm not saying it's her fault. What I'm trying to explain is that, you've known each other for a very long time, went through really hard times together. She knew you before the island, she knew Ollie, not Oliver, and it seems that when you're together it's easier to be Ollie than to be the person you've become. And that's not fair for either of you. I'm not saying you should not be together, that's you decision to make."

"We're not together as a couple, we have an agreement." Oliver interrupted.

"What you do is your business, however, Felicity paid the price for your actions. You stopped being her friend. I don't know If you noticed, but you only talked to her If it was about her job, both of them actually, you never really bothered to talk to her as her friend. This past couple of weeks you were nothing but her boss. And because of that Felicity's problems at QC only got worse."

"What do you mean?"

"Things with Isabel got, how do I say it? Complicated. Her jabs to Felicity started to get worse when she realized you wouldn't even try to stop it as you did before. It got to a point where Felicity started to think about going back to the IT department."

Oliver was looking at her without knowing what to say. How could he have missed it? However, now he had a much more important thought in his mind. _How do I fix this?_

He didn't notice he had spoken out loud until Lyla answered him.

"Honestly? I have absolutely no idea. Talk to her, be honest, but most importantly be her _friend_. But try to move at her pace, let her decide how things are supposed to work out. You really did hurt her Oliver."

After a while, Oliver asked the question to which he really wanted an answer to.

"You know what happened to her don't you?" Lyla looked at him seriously.

"Yes, I do. And before you ask, no I won't tell you what it was. She deserves to decide when to tell you about her past or even if she wants to tell you Oliver, She has to decide for herself."

Oliver didn't answer, thinking about what she said. After a few more moments in silence, he said goodbye to Lyla and left Felicity's place. On his way out he texted Sara asking her to meet him at the Lair. Once he arrived he could see that she had never left. He needed to talk to her but didn't know how to star. Thankfully, it wasn't needed. She started for him.

"You know, when I arrived here, in the team, she didn't treat me different because of my past, she welcomed me, never said anything that made me doubt in the possibility of becoming someone better. After a while we became friends." She paused for a while, thinking about what she was going to say next. "She noticed when I wasn't well, always trying to make me feel better by offering me ice cream or inviting me to watch a movie at her place. She never asked anything, she just… was there, offering me support. How could I have not noticed she was not well Oliver? How could I not notice the fact that my friend was sick? How could I have not notice that she has demons that left marks and none of us noticed?" She asked. Oliver didn't know how to answer.

"Honestly? I haven't a clue. I keep asking myself the same questions. I have known her for almost two years and I just realized that I might not know her at all. Sure I know the small things, how she rambles, how she looks when she's thinking about hacking, how much she loves ice cream and red wine. But her past? The events that made her who she his? I know next to nothing."

They were both quiet for a while. They knew where this was going and they felt that it was the right thing to do. Once again it was Sara who started talking.

"You know, we both went a blind when we started this thing between us. Together we are a little bit toxic, we bot attract the dark side in each other, ignoring everything else. It's not healthy Ollie. We both knew we were not going be together for a long time, we love each other but we're not in love with each other. We both deserve better. I think it would be better if we just remained friends don't you agree?" She questions him. He could see that she had thought this through, it was not a decision made in the moment. And to be honest, he was thankful that they were both on the same page.

He leaned back and answered her. "I do agree with you. We both deserve better. We work better as friends. That was actually why I had called you here. I'm happy to know that we have realized the same thing. As for how we are together, Lyla told me exactly the same thing." He said shaking his head. She looked at him with a confused face.

"Lyla? When did you see her?"

"At Felicity's. I went by to check up on her, to see how she was doing."

"How is she?"

"She's fine, asleep. I got one hell of an hello when I got to her place." At her curious look he proceeds to tell her what happened at Felicity's place. She was amused by the way Lyla said hello to Oliver and when he told her about what he and Lyla had talked about she listened carefully. By the time he was done talking she told him she agreed with everything the other woman had said – about both their reaction to one another and what they should do to earn Felicity's trust again.

By the time they were done it was much later than they had anticipated and they both went to their respective places, going their separate ways as friends. They felt that they had finally closed a chapter in their lives.

Felicity's POV

She woke up felling groggy and with a killer headache. She could remember much about what had happened the previous night after having taken the pain medication. What she did remember was Sara discovering her scars and asking her about them. She got up and went to the kitchen. She needed coffee desperately. When she got there, she found Diggle and Lyla drinking their coffee. Diggle noticed her first.

"Hey girl. How are you feeling?" He inquired. Lyla looked at her with a look that advised her not to lie or to downplay things.

"I'm groggy, my head and my shoulder hurt and I need coffee." The last part was said in a desperate tone that had her companions laughing.

"Come here, there's still coffee in the coffee maker and we saved you a couple of pancakes." Lyla said with a kind smile.

The rest of the morning was spent with Diggle telling her what had happened after he had taken her home. Oliver's reaction, and everything that had happened, which included Roy punching Oliver.

"Wait a second, Roy punched Oliver?" She asked incredulously.

"Yes he did. Put him in his place by explaining how much of a dickhead he had been." Replied Diggle. She still couldn't believe it.

She knew that eventually she would need to talk to Oliver but she honestly had no idea when or how that conversation would occur. When she explained how she felt to her friends, Lyla decided to tell her about Oliver's little visit the previous night. She didn't know what to make of it. Thankfully she would not be going to QC that day, she needed to rest and to think about how she was going to act around him the next day after everything that had happened.

The next day, when she got to Queen Consolidated, she found Oliver next to her desk with a cup of coffee. They looked at each other until Oliver finally started to speak.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly. "I'm sorry I've been such a lousy friend. Hell, I haven't been much of a friend lately." He paused, thinking about what he wanted to say. Felicity kept quiet. "There are thing about you that I want to know but I'm not going to ask any questions until you say you want to talk about it. I want to be your friend again, not just your boss and I'll do whatever I need to earn your trust again. Just please, give me another chance."

She looked at him seriously thinking about what he had said and about what he hadn't said. She knew that this conversation was far from over. There were still so many things that they had to talk about.

"You really hurt me Oliver. You made me feel like I was nothing but another employee, like what everything we had gone through had no importance whatsoever. Don't make me feel like that ever again alright?" He looked at her expectantly.

"Does that mean you'll give another chance?" He asked hopefully.

"Yes." She replied and saw the relieved look on his face. After agreeing that they would talk more about their friendship later, they both went to do their respective work. Oliver's morning was filled with meetings and by the time it was done they were both starving. They had just decided to eat in when Thea walked in with Chinese for their lunch. After catching up with his sister, Oliver left the two girls alone for the rest of the lunch break and went into his office to take a call for a subsidiary of QC in another city.

Roy had told his girlfriend what had happened and she wanted to make sure with her own eyes that her friend was alright. Her boyfriend had also told her what had happened in the Foundry later that same night. She was about to breach the subject when Felicity's pone started to ring.

"Felicity Smoak, Mr. Queen Executive Assistant, how may I help you?"

"Miss Smoak, there is a Mr. Jack Stone and a Mrs. Caitlin Stone who are here to see you. They say they know you."

"Yes I know them Paul, please send them up."

Felicity looked at Thea with a confused face. "It's Caitlin and Jack. They are here to see me. I didn't know they were in Starling."

When the elevator finally arrived she went to say hello to her old friends, introducing Thea as well.

"Cat, Jack, is so good to see you!" She said, embracing them both. "This is Thea Queen, a very good friend of mine."

"Hello, it's really nice to meet some of Felicity's old friends. She talks so much about you two that I feel that I know you already." Said Thea with a smile.

Caitlin smiled at this and replied with a gentle smile "It's nice to meet you too Thea. Felicity has talked about you too."

After introductions Felicity turned to her old friends.

"It's really nice to see you two but I'm a little bit confused. I thought you were only coming to Starling the next month. Did something happen? Is everything alright?" With this, the somewhat easy smile that her friends had dropped when she inquired about their visit.

When they told her why they were in Starling City Felicity's world came tumbling down.

**AN:** So what did you think? I don't know if I portrayed Oliver and Sara correctly. Once again, I'm sorry for the delay, but the time of exams is a little bit though. Please, feel free to review and tell me what you think!


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